Summary: We will not exercise discretion investigate this complaint about liability for council tax and data access requests. The complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Ms X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council pursuing her for liability for council tax when her former partner should be responsible for half of the charge. She also complained about the Council’s failure to properly respond to her subject access requests for data on her council tax history back to 2015.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X complained from 2018 that the Council was unfairly pursuing her for outstanding council tax on a former account for which her and her former partner were liable. She said it was unreasonable that she should have to pay the full amount and that an order in the Family Court decreed that her former partner was responsible for 50% of the debt. The Council advised Ms X that both parties are jointly and severally liable for the account and the order was only binding on the two parties, not the Council.
7. Ms X made subject access requests under the General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) in 2020 and afterwards which she says were not satisfactorily dealt with. In November 2020 she told the Council she would take the matter to the Information Commissioner.
8. We do not normally investigate complaints about matters which the complainant was aware more than 12 months before they complained to us. In this case Ms X told the Council she would take her complaint to us in the years prior to 12 months ago and it was reasonable for her to do so. There is no evidence to suggest that Ms X could not have complained to us sooner and the Council referred her to our service in its final response to her complaint in June 2020.
9. We will not investigate complaints about access to personal data because these fall within the remit of the Information Commissioner and Ms X advised the Council that she would pursue a complaint with this body in 2020.

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Final decision

10. We will not exercise discretion investigate this complaint about liability for council tax and data access requests. The complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Ms X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman